‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: A Lawsuit Shocker Shakes Up The Hospital

Plus, Meredith & Derek finally loop their friends in on the baby news!

A month after Adele’s (Loretta Devine) death, the doctors’ lawsuit against the hospital was finally over on the Jan. 17 episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The judge found the hospital “negligent” for choosing an airline that had a history of mechanical problems and awarded Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Derek (Patrick Dempsey), Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), Cristina (Sandra Oh), and Callie (Sara Ramirez) $15 million — each!

After a month of recovery time from his hand surgery, Derek finally returned to work. While Derek was eager to get back in the OR, Callie had other plans for the brain surgeon. Derek was stuck practicing his wrist strength by playing ping pong with Shane (Gaius Charles), which ended up serving as entertainment for the other doctors.

Avery (Jesse Williams) inherited Sloan’s (Eric Dane) long-time patient with facial bone deformities. Although Sloan had previously set up a plan for the patient to follow, Avery wanted to take a different approach, which caused some tension with Arizona. Avery stuck with his decision to go with his approach, and lucky for him, the surgery was a success!

Although the lawsuit was finally settled, the air wasn’t completely cleared. A huge weight may have been lifted from Owen’s (Kevin McKidd) shoulders, but Derek still held a grudge against him because he made the decision to choose the faulty airline.

Meanwhile, Alex (Justin Chambers) was becoming baffled by his new friendship with Jo (Camilla Luddington) after spending more solely platonic time together. (Of course, Alex doesn’t know how to function in a relationship with a girl that doesn’t involve sex.)

Alex wasn’t the only one having relationship issues; Avery revealed to April (Sarah Drew) that he had been sleeping with Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) since Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) wedding. Reacting like any woman in her position would, April continued to push Avery away by telling him she wasn’t ready to be his friend.

After Adele’s death, everyone was walking on eggshells around the Chief (James Pickens Jr.). Although he refused the doctors attempts to comfort him, he was finally able to open up to Katherine (Debbie Allen) and accepted her support.

With Meredith’s second trimester approaching, Derek urged Meredith to finally share her pregnancy news with Cristina. She had her perfect opportunity at a celebratory dinner for the lawsuit with Derek, Callie, Arizona, and Cristina. After refusing to take part in the champagne toast, Meredith gleefully announced she was pregnant. The dinner also helped soften Derek’s heart, and he called Owen to let him know he had no hard feelings over the crash.

Although things finally seemed to be looking up for Owen, that wasn’t the case. The insurance company that was supposed to pay the doctors found a loophole so they refused to pay. Now, Seattle Grace Mercy West will be forced to pay off the doctors, causing the hospital to go bankrupt.